A BIM-based monitoring system for urban deep excavation projects

Abstract

Background Deep excavations in urban areas have the potential to cause unfavorable effects on ground stability and nearby structures. Thus, it is necessary to evaluate and monitor the environmental impact during deep excavation construction processes. Generally, construction project teams will set up monitoring instruments to control and monitor the overall environmental status, especially during the construction of retaining walls, main excavations, and when groundwater is involved. Large volumes of monitoring data and project information are typically created as the construction project progresses, making it increasingly difficult to manage them comprehensively. Methods To address the abovementioned issues, this project develops a Building Information Model (BIM)-based monitoring system to integrate and visualize monitoring data for risk assessments during urban deep excavation projects. A BIM can be used to establish a comprehensive model of managing a construction project. The system developed herein can access required data from BIM models, and allow complicated numerical data to be displayed effectively in an easily understandable visual format. It is composed of intelligent building components, which includes data attributes and parametric rules for each object. This system can provide a construction project team with a full monitoring view of the ongoing project, along with functions to integrate the information and display it in various ways to present complex engineering monitoring information quickly and clearly. Results Testing examples of the developed system on the excavation of the O6 station in the Kaohsiung metro system in Taiwan are presented to illustrate the improvements of safety management for adjacent structures in urban deep excavation projects. The risks and issues affecting the safety of excavation activities and proximal structures during a project can be identified earlier through effective visualization of information in the system, enabling construction project teams to address them promptly and appropriately by performing accurate risk assessments and decision making. Conclusions This system assists construction project teams in identifying and understanding possible blind spots when attempting to achieve risk assessments during urban deep excavation projects, and further enables the adoption of mitigation measures to reduce risk levels.

Research on dynamic data monitoring of steel structure building information using BIM

“…Related studies are explained next. Wu et al (2015) developed a BIM-based monitoring system to integrate and visualize monitoring data for risk assessment of urban deep foundation pit engineering and verified the effectiveness of the system in the example. Maalek et al (2015) proposed a robust classification and segmentation method based on planar and linear features to improve the accuracy of BIM monitoring system and verified the effectiveness of this method in the laboratory and actual construction site.…”

A BIM-based framework for construction project scheduling risk management

“…Since the recommendation about the need to integrate risk into nD BIM modelling systems was made by Tah et al (undated), concrete studies on how to systematically simulate risk in an nD modelling environment is lacking. The few studies are Wu et al (2015), Musa et al (2015), Hammad et al (2015), Sun et al (2015), Zou et al (2015), Malvar and Likhitruangsilp (2015). Wu et al (2015) developed a BIM-based risk analytical system for monitoring risk associated with deep excavation projects.…”

“…The few studies are Wu et al (2015), Musa et al (2015), Hammad et al (2015), Sun et al (2015), Zou et al (2015), Malvar and Likhitruangsilp (2015). Wu et al (2015) developed a BIM-based risk analytical system for monitoring risk associated with deep excavation projects. It is important to note that the preceding study did not consider scheduling.…”

“…The study commenced with an in-depth literature review to understand the BIM and risk management domains. The extensive search of scientific journal databases led to the identification of very few BIM-related studies (Wu et al 2015;Musa et al 2015;Hammad et al 2015;Sun et al 2015;Zou et al 2015;Malvar and Likhitruangsilp 2015). Thus it was imperative to adopt an exploratory approach using case studies which generally allows for in-depth investigation of a domain with limited literature (Oates, 2006).…”

Integration of Building Information Modelling (BIM) and Sensor Technology

“…In addition, Park et al [23] conducted site safety management in a different way, which demonstrated an automated safety monitoring approach that integrates BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy)-based location tracking, BIM, and cloud-based communication. Wu et al [24] not only concerned about safety management, but also focused on environment protection, which suggest that using various of sensors to monitor the project, then integrate project data, 3D model, stratum data, analysis data and monitoring data into BIM to establish a BIM-based monitoring system for urban deep excavation projects. In site management, sensors can not only conduct process management and safety control, but also helpful for equipment operation.…”